Cigarette lighters

ABSTRACT

A plastic lighter having a metallic shroud to shield the plastic from the lighter flame is disclosed. The shroud is removable by the user to enable him to clean the burner valve. A safety mechanism is incorporated between the fingerpiece and the burner valve of the lighter which prevents the burner valve from opening. When the burner valve is closed, no ignition can occur and the plastic portion of the lighter is not exposed to the unshielded flame.

United States Patent 11 1 Green 1 1 Sept. 4, 1973 1 CIGARETTE LIGHTERS3,161,034 12/1964 Meyers 431/254 [75] Inventor: James Edward Green,Ashtead,

S E l d urrey ng an Primary ExaminerCarroll B. Dority, Jr. [73]Ass1gnee: Ronson Products, Ltd., AttorneyLewis H. Eslinger Surrey,England [22] Filed: July 12, I972 [30] Foreign Application Priority DataA plastic lighter having a metallic shroud to shield the July 15, 1971Great Britain 33,369/71 p ast m t e lighter flame is disclosed. Theshroud is removable by the user to enable him to clean the [52] US. Cl.431/254 b ner v lve. A afety mechanism is incorporated be- [51] Int. Cl.F23q 1/04 w n th fingerpiece and the burner valve of the ligh- [58]Field of Search 431/254, 276, 277, r which preven the burner valve fromopening. 431/130, 131, 150 When the burner valve is closed, no ignitioncan occur and the plastic portion of the lighter is not exposed to [56]References Cited the unshielded flame.

UNITED STATES PATENTS l/l952 Florman 431/254 9 Claims, 7 Drawing FiguresPAIENTEustr'ams 3'756 786 sum 2 or 2 I CIGARETTE LIGHTERS BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION Cigarette lighters using a liquefied petroleum gas such asbutane for fuel have been known for many years. These lighters haveincorporated therein a burner valve, which is opened upon actuation of atingerpiece, and the gas issuing therefrom is ignited by a shower ofsparks, electrical or chemical means.

Lighters can be made from numerous materials ineluding plastic. As iswell known, plastic has a low melt- SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is aprincipal object of this invention to provide a safety mechanism whichwill prevent a cigarette lighter from being actuated when its metalshroud has been removed. I

The lighter utilizes a burner valve which is preferably of the forklifttype in which a lever opens a burner valve to allow gas to flow uponactuation of a fingerpiece. A shroud which is preferably metal surroundsthe burner valve so as to shield the plastic portions of the lighterfrom the flame. The shroud has portions thereon which contact a fulcrumand prevent the fulcrum from movement when the shroud is fixed to thelighter. When the shroud is removed from the lighter, however, theinterconnection between the shroud and the fulcrum is removed and thefulcrum can pivot. The forklift lever requires a stationary fulcrum onwhich to pivot in order to open the burner valve. Thus, it can be seenthat, removal of the shroud will permit movement of the fulcrum and theforklift is thereby ineffective to open the burner valve. The lightercannot produce a flame when the burner valve is closed. A burner valvewhich is readily usable with this system is that shown in U.S. Pat. No.2,571,435 which issued on Oct. 16, 1951 and is entitled Gas Fueled CigarLighter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram;

FIG. 2 is a detail showing fulcrum movement in full and phantom lines;

FIG. 3 is a detail view in perspective showing burner valve actuatingmechanism;

FIG. 4 is a partially cut open detail in perspective showing thecoaction between the shroud and fulcrum;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the shroud;

FIG. 6 is a perspective showing the shroud holding ears, and

FIG. 7 is a partial detail showing the coaction between the ears and thefulcrum.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In order to obtain a betterunderstanding of the invention a simple diagram showing a forkliftmechanism is depicted in FIG. 1. The diagram shows a lever l which ispivotable about a fulcrum 2' which can be any fixed object. The lever ispivotable about the fulcrum by an ignition actuator such as afingerpiece on a cigarette lighter which applies a force in thedirection of the arrow A. The opposite end of the lever 3' is forked orotherwise apertured and this end receives the shut-off stem 4 of aburner valve 5. The lever is operatively connected to the stem by meansof a circlip 6 or any other known removable connector. The shut-off stem4 is biased to a valve closed position where no gas can flow through theburner valve by a spring (not shown) within the valve housing. In actualoperation, actuation of the ignition mechanism causes the end of thelever 1' to be moved in the direction of the arrow A causing theshut-off stem to be lifted away from the burner valve 5 against the biasof the spring within the valve to open the valve and thereby release gasto be ignited.

Referring to FIG. 2 there is shown a diagrammatic arrangement of thepresent invention. The fulcrum 2 for the forklift lever l is constitutedby the end portion of an arm 10 have a slightly upturned portionthereon. The arm 10 is pivoted about the pin 11 and is normally held inthe full line position by a part of the lighter shroud, when in positionon the bodyof the lighter, en gaging the end 12 of the arm. If theshroud is removed, any attempt to pivot the lever 1 about the fulcrum 2will cause the latter to collapse since the arm 10 is thence free tomove about pivot point 11 as indicated in dashed lines. It is axiomaticthat a movable object cannot function as afulcrum and the burner valvecannot be opened when the shroud is removed.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 to 7 it will be seen that the lighter 14 has apair of upstanding ears 15 which can be integral with the lighter orremovable therefrom. A burner valve 16, which can be of the typedisclosed in U.S..Pat. No. 2,571,435, can have screw threads.

thereon enabling it to be threaded into the body of the lighter. Theburner valve 16 is located between the ears 15 on the top wall of thelighter 14. The ignition mechanism comprises a unitary actuatingsegment, having ridges thereon to facilitate actuation by a user, and acap-shaped flint wheel carrier 17.

A spring clip 18 (FIG. 6) is located on the body of the lighter 14 bymeans of a pair of upstanding arms 19 which engage in grooves 20 (FIG.3) formed in the ears 15. The spring clip 18 is secured in position bythe flint tube (not shown) which passes through an aperture 21 in thebase of the clip below the flint wheel (not shown). The arms 19 of theclip have curved ends 22 which releasably engage a metal shroud 23. Theshroud or flame shield has a pair of depending sides 24 which overliepart of the inner face of-the ears 15 adjacent the burner valve 16. Theears 24 have apertures 25 formed therein in which the curved ends 22 ofthe arms 19 snap fit therein when the shroud is properly positioned overthe arms 19. The armsl9 should be resilient so that they will be urgedoutwardly against the shroud.

A fulcrum plate 26, which can be a stamped part islocated on the topwall of the lighter and surrounds the burner valve 16. The fulcrum platehas a pair of arms 27 which extend on either side of the burner valve 16and is secured in position by a pair of outwardly extending lugs 28which extend into opposed openings 29 formed in the arms l9 of thespring clip 18. The fulcrum plate 26 is pivotally mounted in theopenings 29. The ends 30 of the arms 27 are turned inwardlyto provide apair of fulcrums for a forklift lever 31. The shroud 23 is provided witha pair of intumed tabs 32 which, when the shroud is in position, overlieand engage the end of the fulcrum plate 26 so as to preclude pivotalmovement of the plate about the lugs 28 when pressure is applied to thefulcrum 30 by the action of the cam surfaces 33 of the carrier 17 on theforklift lever 31. The forklift lever has one end which is removablysecured to the shut off stem 4 burner valve 16 and the opposite portionis formed by a pair of arms which are dimensional and spaced so as tounderlie the cam surfaces 33 on the carrier.

Upon removal of the shroud 23, operation of the carrier 17 by depressingit in a known manner will cause the fulcrum plate 26 to pivot about thelugs 28 with the result that the forklift lever 31 will be unable toopen the burner valve to allow gas to escape.

The forklift lever 31 is provided with a small platelike extension 34(see FIG. 1) which functions to direct the shower of sparks produced bythe flint and flint wheel more accurately towards the gas stream issuingfrom the burner valve 16. It has been discovered that such an extension34 enables a much more reliable ignition to be obtained than with priorsystems.

I claim:

1. In a cigarette lighter comprising,

a. a housing having a fuel reservoir therein,

b. ignition actuating means secured to said housing,

c. a burner valve having a reciprocable shut off stem thereon toinitiate and shut off fuel flow from said reservoir,

d. a forklift lever secured to said shut off stem and extending betweensaid burner valve and said ignition actuating means,

e. means on said forklift lever adapted to pivot said forklift uponactuation of said ignition actuating means, and

f. a movable fulcrum member upon which said forklift lever can pivotwhen said fulcrum is held in a fixed position, and a lighter elementholding said fulcrum member in fixed position, means pivotally mountingsaid fulcrum member which serves to preclude pivotal movement of saidforklift lever about said fulcrum member when said lighter element isremoved.

2. In a cigarette lighter as defined inclaim l in which said ignitionactuating means comprises a flint wheel carrier adapted to be actuatedby a user and a flint wheel held by said flint carrier.

3. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 in which said forkliftlever has an extension laterally offset therefrom which lies in the pathof sparks produced by said lighter and serves to direct the sparkstowards said burner valve.

4. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 further comprising ashroud surrounding said burner valve to shield the lighter housing fromthe flame and removably secured to said housing, and said lighterelement includes means on said shroud engaging said fulcrum to preventmovement of said fulcrum when said shroud is positioned on said lighterhousing.

5. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 in which the means forpivotally mounting said movable fulcrum includes a pair of lugsextending outwardly thereof, and a pair of opposed upstanding earsstraddling said fulcrum, said opposed ears having openings therein intowhich said lugs extend and serve as pivot points for said fulcrum.

6. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 5 in which said upstandingears are resilient.

7. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 6 further comprising ashroud surrounding said burner valve and said shroud having meansthereon coacting with said upstanding ears so as to be removably held onsaid lighter housing.

8. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 7 in which said lighterelement includes at least one tab on said shroud which engages saidfulcrum and precludes movement of said fulcrum when said shroud ismounted on said lighter housing and permits pivotal movement of saidfulcrum when said shroud is removed from said lighter housing.

9. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 4 in which said means onsaid shroud comprises at least one tab which lies in the path of pivotalmovement of said fulcrum so as to preclude pivotal movement thereof whensaid shroud is mounted on said lighter housing.

1. In a cigarette lighter comprising, a. a housing having a fuelreservoir therein, b. ignition actuating means secured to said housing,c. a burner valve having a reciprocable shut off stem thereon toinitiate and shut off fuel flow from said reservoir, d. a forklift leversecured to said shut off stem and extending between said burner valveand said ignition actuating means, e. means on said forklift leveradapted to pivot said forklift upon actuation of said ignition actuatingmeans, and f. a movable fulcrum member upon which said forklift levercan pivot when said fulcrum is held in a fixed position, and a lighterelement holding said fulcrum member in fixed position, means pivotallymounting said fulcrum member which serves to preclude pivotal movementof said forklift lever about said fulcrum member when said lighterelement is removed.
 2. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 inwhich said ignition actuating means comprises a flint wheel carrieradapted to be actuated by a user and a flint wheel held by said flintcarrier.
 3. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 1 in which saidforklift lever has an extension laterally offset therefrom which lies inthe path of sparks produced by said lighter and serves to direct thesparks towards said burner valve.
 4. In a cigarette lighter as definedin claim 1 further comprising a shroud surrounding said burner valve toshield the lighter housing from the flame and removably secured to saidhousing, and said lighter element includes means on said shroud engagingsaid fulcrum to prevent movement of said fulcrum when said shroud ispositioned on said lighter housing.
 5. In a cigarette lighter as definedin claim 1 in which the means for pivotally mounting said movablefulcrum includes a pair of lugs extending outwardly thereof, and a pairof opposed upstanding ears straddling said fulcrum, said opposed earshaving openings therein into which said lugs extend and serve as pivotpoints for said fulcrum.
 6. In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 5in which said upstanding ears are resilient.
 7. In a cigarette lighteras defined in claim 6 further comprising a shroud surrounding saidburner valve and said shroud having means thereon coacting with saidupstanding ears so as to be removably held on said lighter housing. 8.In a cigarette lighter as defined in claim 7 in which said lighterelement includes at least one tab on said shroud which engages saidfulcrum and precludes movement of said fulcrum when said shroud ismounted on said lighter housing and permits pivotal movement of saidfulcrum when said shroud is removed from said lighter housing.
 9. In acigarette lighter as defined in claim 4 in which said means on saidshroud comprises at least one tab which lies in the path of pivotalmovement of said fulcrum so as to preclude pivotal movement thereof whensaid shroud is mounted on said lighter housing.